The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), one of the country’s leading drug policy reform organizations, started a campaign calling for the DEA’s dissolution after the government agency failed to reschedule cannabis last week.
The DPA is demanding the DEA be abolished and incorporated into the FBI. Failing that, the organization calls for more congressional oversight over the DEA, including audits reviewing the DEA’s operations, expenditures and actions, a shift in the agency’s focus to larger drug busts that cross state and international lines, and a stripping of the DEA’s ability to determine drug classifications.
On its campaign page, the DPA highlights some of the DEA’s and other federal law enforcement shortcomings when it comes to drug law enforcement. Among other notes, a 2011 report to Congress found that only 10 percent of people convicted for federal drug violations were “high-level” suppliers. Instead, 23 percent of federal drug convictions were against street-level couriers.
“If the DEA is not abolished, then its mandate should change to reflect the goal of violence reduction, not drug reduction,” the DPA states on its campaign website. “Treating drug use as a criminal justice issue instead of a health issue has led to disaster.”
The Alliance is calling on its members and the general public to write to the President and call on him to reform or eliminate the DEA. The submission form can be found here.
